Tuesday, February 1, 2011

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (KRCU) - Southeast Missouri State University football coach Tony Samuel will remain with the Redhawks through 2016.

Samuel’s contract extension gives him a base salary of $125,000. Samuel will also earn 5% of net revenue generated from football games, a $25,000 annual annuity, and various individual and team performance incentives.

The Redhawks finished 9-3 this year, winning the Ohio Valley Conference and advancing to the NCAA FCS championship playoffs for the first time in school history.

Samuel compared Southeast's success to that of his alma mater, college football powerhouse Nebraska, where he played and served as an assistant coach.

“It was a program that had a few thousand people going to the games. People weren’t rabid about it. It developed. It was a long time ago, but it developed into something. And I see us in something of an infantile stage of trying to get there. Because we are on the way, but we have a lot of work to go,” Samuel said.

Samuel won the 2010 OVC Coach of the Year and the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year Award. The Redhawks were pre-season picks to finish in seventh place last season before they stormed to the top of the conference.